Q: Can alimony and child support be amended once my wife's inheritance is realized? How would I go about this?

A: Child support is a given. It will be based on what income you both have at the time of the divorce. If she gets a future inheritance that somehow increases her ability to earn money, such as investment income, or which reduces her presumed living expenses, you can always go back to court and ask for a modification of child support.

Spousal support similarly is based on the circumstances at the time of the divorce but it is never automatic like child support. You will need to confer with an experienced divorce lawyer who can explain to you how spousal support is determined (by looking at historic case law and comparing that facts of those cases with your case) and together you can estimate what a court is likely to award your wife. You can always go back to court and ask for a modification of the spousal support if a future inheritance changes your wife's financial condition. It is extremely important to have a good attorney who gets written into the final judgment the grounds for a spousal support award so a court in the future can easily determine if those grounds have changed and a modification is allowable. For example, if the grounds are her financial situation compared to yours and the decree specifically spells that out, the inheritance could be grounds for a modification. But if the grounds are to reimburse her for the time it took to put you through graduate school so you could get a higher paying job, then the spousal support might not be subject to modification if she gets an inheritance because she still might be entitled to the compensation for her lost earning power.

Also be aware that spousal support is tax deductible to you and taxable to your wife, the recipient. Child support is not tax deductible. The amount of spousal support you pay will be added to your wife's income and subtracted from yours when the child support calculation is done. So paying spousal support may not be as expensive as you think. It can lower your taxes and reduce your child support. There are software programs that run the numbers and will tell you how different amounts of child support and spousal support effect that net cash you have to live on. I like to refer my clients to a CPA who has this software who can run different scenarios.

Get a good attorney!